Michelle is an orphaned teenager who teams up with a sweet robot named Cosmo to set off across the robot-riddled American Southwest in search of the genius younger brother she thought was dead.

Brown is most famous for playing an ’80s teen in Stranger Things, so it was a welcome switch-up to enter the next decade. “I’m not actually used to doing modern or contemporary roles, which is funny,” Brown told Netflix, “but I love anything to do with the ’90s.”

Brown had a vision for Michelle’s look and sent it to the Russo brothers early on. The hair not only draws inspiration from an essential ’90s icon but also reflects Brown’s interpretation of the hardened yet vulnerable protagonist. “I had this image of Drew Barrymore,” Brown explains to Tudum. “She was in the center of every mood board for me — dirty blonde, really grown out roots, very curly … bangs, I definitely wanted bangs because I feel like bangs can help you hide how you really feel, and they help you kind of shy away and hide parts of your face so you don’t have to really show people how you feel.”

Stranger Things, Enola Holmes

Keats is a low-rent smuggler who reluctantly teams up with Michelle on her perilous journey to the Exclusion Zone (and the reluctance is mutual). Like Brown, Pratt also dove into pop culture to build out his character and imagined that Keats’ hairstyle was inspired by Patrick Swayze’s luscious mop of golden curls in Point Break. “I love the idea of people aspiring to be these heroic characters they’ve seen in pop culture,” says Pratt, “but they fall way short … In [Keats’] mind, he looks really good.”

Unlike their characters, Pratt and Brown got along right away, which was especially important on set where the Russos encouraged improvisation. Brown recalled, “I have a lot of energy, and sometimes I’ll tone myself down when I meet my new co-stars, but the second I met Chris, he acted as if he’d known me my whole life. I went home that night, and I remember saying to my husband that it was as if Chris and I were already best friends.”

Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World

Dr. Amherst is the mastermind behind Sentre’s entire global network, but he definitely isn’t a purely ethical scientist. “It’s a classic tale of what happens when ambition meets opportunities, and he suppresses his morality to get what he wants,” Quan told Netflix. “He thought he was doing the right thing, which was to change the world and save the world from the robot rebellion.”

Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Ethan Skate is a tech genius who created neurocasters, networks that allow people to transmit their ideas and feelings without the trouble of human interaction –– however, it turns out the technology is extremely powerful and dangerous, even addictive. “He is somewhat villainous, but he doesn’t think he is,” Tucci told Netflix. “He thinks he’s doing everybody a favor.”

Julie and Julia, The Hunger Games

Ted is Michelle’s deadbeat foster father who’s addicted to using the neurocaster to project himself into his avatar, Wingman. “I’ve more or less made a living on characters that have egos they shouldn’t have,” Alexander told Netflix.

There might have been aspects of Ted’s character that felt familiar to Alexander, but the actor took on a new challenge when he asked if he could also perform the motion capture for Wingman. “I met with Terry Notary, the head of the movement team,” Alexander said, “and I went to two days of robot movement school, in which I was very fortunate that I had a dance and martial arts background. Because of that, just about every moment in the film where you see Wingman, it is actually me. It was a great deal of fun and it allowed me to be organically in the scenes with Millie, not just as a voice, but as something that she was really going to be able to react off of.”

Seinfeld, Leo

Colonel Bradbury is a former hero of the uprising who is now a sort of bounty hunter of robots who uses a walking drone (“The Marshall”) to kill machines who cross the border. “My character is a fascinating mix of intellect, ambition, and vulnerability,” Esposito told Netflix. “On the surface, he may seem like someone who’s purely driven by power, but underneath, there’s a deep sense of conflict and even regret. I love characters like this because they challenge me to portray both strength and fragility, sometimes in the same scene.”

Breaking Bad, Do the Right Thing

Christopher is Michelle’s long-lost genius younger brother.

C’mon C’mon, The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Motion capture actor: Martin Klebba

Herman is the hilarious utility robot sidekick to Keats. He comes in multiple sizes for a range of different purposes.  They make an odd-couple dynamic, as they started off as enemies in the war but have become best friends.

Mackie was the only actor the Russos had in mind for the voice of Herman, but the overall performance of the character was uniquely collaborative.

“Anthony Mackie voices Herman beautifully throughout the course of the film, but laying down the tracks for the voice is part of the postproduction process,” Pratt said. “During production a lot of the banter between Keats and Herman was a combination of riffing with Joe Russo and Marty Klebba, the mo-cap actor behind Herman. Marty’s this wisecracking dude who I worked with previously on Jurassic World. He’s absolutely hilarious and I love him dearly.” 

Captain America: Brave New World, We Have a Ghost

Motion capture actors: Devyn Dalton and Phoenix Notary

Cosmo is the beloved cartoon robot who is a casualty of the robot ban. Anthony Russo calls him “the emotional core of Michelle’s journey.”

Brown said of acting alongside the robot character, “It’s very easy to develop a bond like that when you have such an amazing mo-cap actor like Devyn, who played Cosmo on set. She and I had already worked together before when I was 9 years old on a project in Canada and it actually became more of a sisterly bond. We had this love and a relationship that connected us. Her performance is unbelievable and it drew out a lot of emotion in me.”

A Knight’s Tale, I, Robot, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Motion capture actor: Terry Notary

Modeled after the Planters Peanuts mascot, he is a leader among robots living in the abandoned Blue Sky Acres Mall, making efforts to create a community.

“Woody Harrelson made Mr. Peanut unforgettable,” said Anthony Russo.

Zombieland, The Man from Toronto

Motion capture actor: Terry Notary

Pop Fly is the blustery elder statesman among the robots of Blue Sky Acres. “Brian Cox gave Pop Fly such a wry intelligence,” said Anthony Russo.

Succession, Red

Motion capture actor: Gabrielle Maiden

Penny Pal is a lovably nervous mail carrier robot. “Jenny Slate brought infectious energy to Penny Pal,” said Anthony Russo.

Obvious Child, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Motion capture actor: Christopher Silvestri
 

Perplexo is a mechanical magician robot whose showmanship is more impressive than his sleight of hand.

The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Birdcage